Octoberfest (again)

We went to Octoberfest in Yokohama again this year. And we took some pictures. Enjoy.

Fuji-san

So we've been needing to post this for sometime, but better late than never I suppose.

Way back on September 5, we set out to climb Mt. Fuji. The general plan was to set to start climbing Saturday afternoon, go all night and then catch the sunrise from the summit. So we headed down to Gotemba (near the base of Fuji) on Saturday afternoon, took a bus to the mountain, and got started around 6 PM.

By way of reference, Fuji is a little over 12,000 feet tall and we started around 5,000 feet. It is estimated that 200,000 people climb the mountain each year, most of them between July and August (the official climbing season). During this time, a series of mountain "huts" or stations are open on the mountain (we started at the 5th station). The huts provide a few different services like food and drinks, rest rooms (for 100-200 yen per use) and places to get out of the cold and even sleep. Some people elect to set out earlier in the day, sleep in one of the huts, then get up about 2-3 AM and head for the summit. There is generally a collection of huts about every 1000 feet on the way up.

We looked into the huts, but they were all booked. To tell you how many people are on the mountain any given evening, some of the huts hold 500 people... there is easily capacity for a few thousand people to sleep on the mountain. We were in one for a few minutes just to grab a bite to eat, and they are basically just big rooms with futon mats and people sleeping everywhere... kind of funny to see.

It was also interesting to see how prices changed on the way up. A bottle of water that would have been 100 yen in Tokyo, started at 250 at the beginning of the trail and was about 550 at the top. Somebody has to haul all that stuff up there though.

So we were off by 6 or so. It started off basically like a hike, though it got pretty steep pretty quick. We would stop at each of the mountain huts and rest for around 45 minutes to eat and drink something and let our bodies adjust the altitude. We were really concerned about one of our traveling party getting some sort of altitude sickness, fortunately everybody managed to avoid this. A lot of the Japanese had little cans of oxygen that were broken out the higher we got. That seemed a little overkill as long as you were smart about it.

There are a couple different ways up Mt. Fuji and we fortunately selected one of the less traveled ones. So we didn't really run into a lot of people until we got to the 9th station (probably about 1-2,000 feet below the top) where our trail merged with another more popular trail. This station also has several big mountain huts where people sleep. From this point the rest of the way up was basically a conga line - you waited for the person in front of you to go and then you went. It was also pretty steep... basically climbing up big rocks. This was also the point that I really started to notice the altitude - the lack of oxygen mainly. So that part really wasn't much fun.

But we finally made it to the top around 3:30 AM and managed to find a less crowded spot (there were already a lot of people up there) to watch the sunrise (scheduled for around 5 AM). Temperature-wise, it was probably in the mid-20's, but fortunately there was not much wind. We really lucked out with the weather... we had friends who went the next weekend and experienced rain and snow. So we all tried to stay warm and I even took a nap for about an hour.

The sunrise was really amazing to see. The pics are good, but they probably don't do it justice.

So after spending some time at the top, we decided we had our fill of Fuji and headed down. Coming down sucked... really no other way to put it. Most of the way down is on a "sand slide" which could best be compared to coming down a sand dune. But it has big rocks in it. And you come down it for a good 3.5 hours. It's really hard on your knees and quads (especially after having gone up 7000 feet already).

The whole trip was much harder than I thought it would be, but well worth it. Having said that, don't really need to do it again.

First, a few pics from the trip...

The view from the top, pre-sunrise:

A view of the crater:

Coming down the mountain... this will give you a good idea what these 3+ hours were like...

Doggie Cleaning

You can imagine my surprise when I walk outside my apartment and I see the new bandana that John's parents gave Cosmo sitting there with all the proper dry cleaning tags.  Apparently, it somehow slipped into the cleaning bag unnoticed.  This is a first....Cosmo should be styling it.  

Until next time...Jenn

Sayonara....

So, we had another first in Japan last week.  Some very good friends of ours left, which was so so sad.  However, in proper Tokyo fashion we threw them a Sayonara party to properly say good bye.  Good bye dear friends, we miss you already.  

Until next time...Jenn

Summer Daze....

...are coming to an end.  And one of my biggest accomplishments has been my cross stitch project (I know...seriously entrenched in domestication).  My mom bought if for me like last year, but I just now bothered to put some MAJOR time into it and voila....a life lesson that everyone needs to know.  And what a journey it has been in the last year.

I'm awaiting the "official" start of fall where all the Japanese people will be busting out the fall gear in full force.  They are VERY specific fashion-wise about their seasons here.  The clothing colors change which I am in complete agreement with, however, they also start wearing fur-lined boots and sweaters, which given the temperature will still be HOT seems strange.  I'm still thinking it has to do with the fact that everyone is a toothpick therefore they get colder faster than their huskier American counterparts.  Just a theory I'm working on.  

So, I have to be honest and say that it's been a long time since I've been inspired to write a blog post.  I have no idea why this is as things go on with us all the time.  I'm still surprised by things here in Tokyo or our travels, but nothing has "come to me" in a very long time.  Maybe today I just had a lot to say....who knows.  

We've done a few summer highlights for you along the way (ie. the Notre Dame game, camping, my trip home, etc.) however, there are a few more that are worth noting.  We went to a O'matsuri (or festival) a few weekends ago that was a lot of fun.  It was this area near us, the Juban and was packed but worth it and as you can see John was pretty adventurous with the Japanese culinary delights.  

Associated with this was Bon Dancing at Roppongi Hills, which was okay.  I had gone to the Bon dancing at Hibiya Park the night before, which was one of the most amazing Japanese experiences that I've ever had.  It was for lack of a better word...magical.  The pictures that I took weren't that great and don't do it justice at all...it was one of those lifetime experiences for me.  One that you'll always remember.  Unfortunately, John didn't get to go, but needless to say this will be on my must do list for our entire tenure here.  

Following that up, John decided that we needed to break in our hiking gear and climb Mt. Takao...because what better way to get those boots worn in, right?  Which, if John were posting, you would have all the pertinent information, but since it's me, let's just say it wasn't that hard a hike or so everyone says.  And I'm sure the fact that I've been sore for a week is absolutely no indication that I may not be in good enough shape.  Although even for me it wasn't that bad at the time, but we're tackling Mt. Fuji next weekend.  Needless to say, they aren't comparable.  But John has gotten himself prepared....as you can see.

So be thinking of us next weekend when you are comfy on your couches...we will be climbing overnight.  As a friend of mine said "wow, this just doesn't sound like you at all...you know anti-adventurous and not really into nature" she was right, but I know I'll be glad I did it....theoretically.  Of course, I'm pretty sure that I'll be disgusting afterwards, which let's just face it isn't that exciting.  What we do for our men...can I get an amen?

Well, that's pretty much it from Tokyo.  Things are getting rolling again.  September kicks everything back into gear.  The bible study that I did last year starts up again next week, my rice cake construction (which I didn't really break from) continues, and I started tennis lessons today.  As he walked out the door, John's words of wisdom were "don't hurt yourself"...nothing like a vote of confidence in my athletic abilities.  Regardless, I loved it.  I had heard some interesting things about my instructor from previous students.  For instance, "well, he's a bit of an odd ball".  So I couldn't help but laugh when another one of my novice counterparts turned to me today and said, "there's something about him that reminds me of Pee-wee Herman".  And now you can get a little insight into our lesson.  Other than that we are heading to Dallas next week for a wedding...congrats Terri and Steve.  I hope that you all had a great summer as well.  

So, whenever I've kept a journal (which this feeling like sort of except for the lack of girlhood angst about boys and life and all that) I've always added a song so that whenever I read them again, which has yet to happen, but you never know....I'll know exactly what I was listening to.  Anyway, thought I'd give it a go here too....so here is our first introduction of "Name that Tune".  This is a shout out to our upcoming visit home and to our Texas peeps....

"all the Federalis said they could have had him any day....they only let him slip away out of kindness I suppose...."

Until next time...Jenn

Notre Dame Football - undefeated in Japan!!!

Continuing my homework assignments...

So the weekend after we went to Seoul was American football - Notre Dame Alumni vs. the Japan National Team in the Tokyo Dome.  Notable on the ND team was Tim Rice.  Notable on the JP team were guys who play American football.  I think the ND team out-weighed the JP team on average by like 60 pounds.   They probably out-aged them by about 20 years as well... there were guys on the ND team well over 50 years old.

Unfortunately, the JP team seemed to forget this fact.  Or it could have been that they were simply intimidated by the coaching legend on the other side of the field - Lou Holtz and his national championship 22 years ago.  I have to admit that my favorite teams are the University of Texas, whoever is playing a&m and whoever is playing ND.  But having said that...

1. Who is Charlie Weiss?  How great would ND be if they had kept Lou?
2. ND is #1 right now... what other team is 1-0?
3. ND fans came out of the woodwork for this game.  
4. They trounced JP 19-3.  Don't let anybody tell you ND isn't back.

If I was going to a football game, I felt like I had to wear UT garb.  I ran into quite a few people from Texas because of it.  

All in all, a nice little slice of Americana with tastes of Japan mixed in.

Happy Anniversary to Me.

So my one year anniversary in Japan was this week.  Pretty amazing how quickly it has gone by.  I certainly (still) miss all of our friends back home, but it's been an incredible experience.

Seoul

Okay... this has been a long time coming.  Jenn assigned this homework to me before she went back to the US and I simply failed.  So here you go.

I feel like we need to go back to Korea.  

First, we had a very Malaysia like experience - it rained a lot.  So we dealt with that from pretty much the day we got there (Friday afternoon).  Second, there was really one thing that I wanted to do in Korea - visit the Demilitarized Zone (the DMZ).  We had our reservation for the USO tour where you get to go to Panmunjeom and straddle the border of North and South Korea, go into the tunnels that the North Koreans have built into South Korea, and stare across the most heavily defended border in the world.  You actually have to sign a waiver saying that you acknowledge that military action could break out at any time and that you won't hold the United Nations responsible if you are killed during your tour - how great is that?

But the heavy hand of swine flu swatted those plans aside.  A soldier at one of the military bases on the border contracted this glorified flu and, as a result, the bases were sealed and the tours cancelled.  We found this out when we showed up for our tour.

So we walked around Seoul and saw some markets and a bunch of palaces (in the rain).  Lots of Japanese regularly go to Korea, primarily to shop.  It's a combination of a lack of duties in Korea (as opposed to Japan) and a very strong Yen that makes stuff much cheaper in Korea as compared to Japan.

One highlight for Korea - the food.  We didn't have a bad meal in Korea.  Koreans in the restaurants we went to seemed surprised that we liked the kimchi, but it was really good and there are lots of varieties (not just burn your face off hot).  The soup you see that I had in the pics below was really hot if you ate it alone, but was really good with the noodles in the soup.  We also got to experience true Korean barbeque thanks to our friends Michael and Lee... really good stuff.  

One unique thing about Korea (compared to Japan) - the chopsticks are often metal... a little difficult to eat noodles with.  

Here Comes the Bride....

So, I just get home from a lovely trip home.  I hate to report (yeah right), that I missed all the little earthquake craziness, but thankfully everything was fine and John wasn't too scared without me...ha.  For those of you that didn't know, my dear friend Marcia got married and I was honored to be a part of it.  

The wedding was in Savannah, which is a great little city.  My mom and my old friend Karrie decided to join me in my exploration of the city before the wedding festivities began.  We had the best time sifting through antique shops and touring historic homes.  After they left all the whirlwind that accompanies any wedding began.  It was a wonderful southern wedding and I got to catch up with some great people that I hadn't seen in a long time.  Here are a few pics of my time home.  

Until next time...Jenn

Tokyo... back on top baby!

So Mercer (didn't Jenn used to work for them?) came out with their annual cost of living study and Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world for expats.  Wahoo!!! Take that Moscow.

New York serves as the basis (with a score of 100) and Tokyo came in at 143.7  Most of the change is due to currency movements, not actual increases in prices.  The yen/USD has gone from well over 110 to around 93 since we've been here.  I think it even dipped below 90 for a while last fall.  That's not a bad thing when you get paid in yen... it's like US dollars go on sale.

The flip side (for Japan that is) is that its exports become relatively more expensive.  We get a lot of questions about how the economy is here... unemployment is projected to go over 6% (which would be the highest since WWII), but is not nearly as bad as the 10% projected in the US.  But that number is probably lower than it should be.  There was a story last weekend (can't find a link now) indicating that nearly the same number of people were "over-employed" - meaning their employers would terminate/RIF/fire them if they could, but they are legally prohibited from doing so.

It is really hard to layoff/fire someone here.  As a result it is a big deal when it happens.  I need to catch some photos of this, but there are guys standing around doing a jobs that no one would ever do in the US.  For example, around construction sites there are usually 2 guys at each construction entrance to 1) make sure you don't go into the site, or 2) make sure you don't get run over by a truck.  Road patching crews have at least 2-3 guys at each end of the patch to direct traffic (I've never seen a bad road or a bad patch in Japan).  Pedestrian crossings of roads around the hotels have 2 guys (one on each side) telling you when it is safe to cross (as if you couldn't see the cars coming).  I have even seen a guy who's job it is to clean the phone booths.

It really is amazing and I think it (partially) explains why prices are higher here... there is a lot of extra labor cost being passed on to consumers.  I'm not sure it's always worth it, but it's the way it is here.  

So I was surfing the web and came across a couple of items of interest..

A story about a Lacy (hey, I'm a Lacy) who was missing after 10 months and then found by its owners in Houston.  Good for Daisy.

I'm working on this...



-Cos

Focus on da Lotus....

So, after getting in late from Seoul (post in progress), I decide to get up at the crack of dawn to go see some lotus blossoms with some great women that I met through my rice cake volunteering.  We met at 5:45 (yes, you can be properly impressed), which was very difficult.  I have to say though, it was most definitely worth it.  

There is this sea of huge lily pads in Ueno Koen and hidden amidst all the green are these gorgeous pink blossoms.  It was beautiful and I  wanted to share it with you.  

Until next time...Jenn

What....

is worst than a broken shoe - a broken shoe while on the subway midway to my destination.  Let's just say that there was no flip but a lot of flop.  It was an experience to say the least.  Unlike home, you can't just hop into a store and grab some new shoes....they don't have my size.  As you can see, some repair was attempted, but to no avail.  

Until next time...Jenn

Baseball is the same everywhere, right?

I've been meaning to post this for a while now, but it can round out my blogging trifecta tonight...

We went to a Yakult Swallows baseball game a few weeks ago.  There are two teams in Tokyo - the Swallows and the Yomiuri Giants.  I think the Giants could best be compared to the Yankees - biggest payroll, big name stars, play in the Tokyo Dome, etc.  I think the Swallows are probably more like the Cubs or the Rangers.  I think there are about 16 teams in Japan and generally each one has at least one foreigner - either a hot, up and coming rookie or some fading star.  Bobby Valentine is GM for one of the teams.  I think my favorite named team (we didn't see a game when we were there) is the Hiroshima Carp.  They play in Zoom Zoom Stadium (Mazda's HQ is near there).

The Swallows play in a smaller, outdoor ballpark in the middle of the city not too far from where we live.  We went to a Sunday evening game with some friends, paid about $15/seat to sit in the general admission bleachers and took it all in.

So how is it different...

1. The only real difference in the game is that it moves much faster.  There is much less jacking around by the pitcher, batter, catcher, etc.  US MLB could learn something here.
2. Much like planes, trains, festivals, etc. people tend to bring their own food.
3. Unlike at home, where each stadium will normally have an "official" beer, you can pretty much get any brand here.  And it is frequently distributed by a young girl in some kind of brand-related outfit (see the pics).  Many of them are carrying little kegs on their backs and distribute a draft beer to you on the spot.  It's probably cheaper here than at home.  No tipping - it's Japan after all.
4. No chipwichs that I saw.
5. Fans are into it.  The crowd could best be compared to European soccer.  Most people are there to watch the game.
6. Songs.  When the home team is at bat, the partisans break out into each player's song and each one is different.  They are in Japanese of course, but there is a guy on the Swallows from Canada (I also learned the play baseball in Canada).  His song starts with "Oh Canada..." and goes from there.
7. The road team's fans travel.  There was a huge section supporting the visiting team (can't recall who they are, but does it really matter?) but there were a bunch of them there.  They sang their team's songs when they were batting.  Our friends were saying it is huge when the Giants play the Swallows.
8. In the game listings, the home team is listed first (opposite of the US).
9. They have a dance team that goes out and dances during batting changes.  They are not cheerleaders (certainly by US standards).  They reminded me more of the ice girls at Dallas Stars games... something nobody is really going to complain about, but not really part of the game.
10. Condiment distribution is different here... take a look at the slideshow.  And the mustard is different (I dare say better)... it has wasabi or horse radish in it so it has a kick.
11. The 7th inning stretch is a bit different.  Each team's fans break out some sort of prop (for the Swallows, they are umbrellas that seemed to come from nowhere) and sing some special song.  It's kind of a "what is going on" moment.

So all in all, a very fun experience.  

It's not hot here, it's just you.

I think we've posted some items here regarding how formal things are here and how dressed up people generally are around here.  It's not uncommon to see guys wearing suits on the weekend, women very well put together even on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, etc.  We generally feel (or felt - we've gotten over it) conspicuous wearing our shorts an t-shirts when it's 85 degrees out.  As part of that, I have to wear a suit to work October through May.  In between, we go business casual (i.e., no ties and jackets).

So what happens in June you ask?  Well that is when "CoolBiz" kicks in.   Here is a quick article from Newsweek regarding this phenomenon referred to as "CoolBiz."  The gist of it is that companies set the air conditioning at 82.4 degrees during the summer to reduce electric usage and save a salamander somewhere.  I think 82.4 might be bearable if a) you were wearing shorts and t-shirts and b) you didn't have to walk from you apartment to the metro, or the metro was even well air-conditioned, or from the metro to your office/desk or c) you have a cold beer in your hand.  But you don't, so by the time you get to your seat you're pretty much sweating and you get to sit at your desk and continue to do so.  There is a big market for desk fans and small towels to dab your brow here... you would think that would be an indication that most people think 82.4 is too warm.

The other solution being marketed here is CoolBiz clothing... clothing made from special fabrics designed to make you feel cooler (or maybe not show pit stains as much, I don't know).  I think it's primarily a lot of synthetic, very thin fabrics.  For the guys you seeing wearing suits, the jackets are just the outer fabric with no lining at all.

Another article I saw said thousands of companies have signed on to the CoolBiz philosophy.  Not to be a cynic, but most companies that could justify turning the AC up to save some money would do so (electricity is much more expensive here than back home).  If you get to say you're reducing your carbon footprint by doing so, that's just a bonus.  I think that whatever the total savings are from going CoolBiz are more than offset by special CooBiz clothing, desk fans, little towels and lost productivity (lots of breaks to go buy ice coffee here - probably a separate blog entry).  I'm happy to be at a client right now that has a more reasonable temperature in the office because our office is just downright uncomfortable.

One more temperature note... I think Japanese generally prefer it warmer than Americans do, particularly Americans from Texas used to a comfortably cool chill in the summer.  Case in point - We flew Japan Airlines to/from Malaysia.  The flight back (overnight while you would really like to be sleeping) was by far the warmest flight I have ever been on.  I couldn't use the blanket because I would get hot with it.  Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well on the flight (normally not a problem).  But when you look around the cabin, there would be Japanese people bundled up like we would normally see on a flight in the US.  It's just kind of interesting how people perceive something so basic as temperature differently.